College basketball is back, giving us plentiful betting options with so many teams in action each day.

Fortunately, we have abundant tools available that can aid our chances of finding good betting value. Bart Torvik and KenPom are excellent sources that give insights into team-level efficiency, and Sports Reference provides a wide range of useful team stats, as well.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds and select some of the best bets of the day by utilizing the mentioned tools.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

Today's Best College Basketball Picks

Northern Kentucky Norse vs. No. 14 Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue -19.5 (-120)

Purdue features a new-look team as Zach Edey -- the two-time Wooden Award winner -- moved onto the NBA. Apparently, centers eclipsing 7-foot grow on trees for the Boilermakers, as the 7-foot-4 Edey is replaced by true freshman 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen.

This Purdue team is not expected to run through the post as much, though. Instead, it will be junior guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith as well as power forward Trey Kaufman-Renn leading the charge, complimented by the four-star true freshman Gicarri Harris.

Despite the veteran backcourt, turnovers were a problem for Purdue in its first game, logging 16 turnovers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. This is a number that should come down as the Boilermakers averaged 11.3 turnovers per game last season (top 36%). This should be one of the top backcourts in the Big Ten, led by Smith, the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.

Now, let's take some time to look at Friday's opponent -- Northern Kentucky. The Norse are a quality mid-major opponent, one that was picked to finish third in the Horizon League. Seniors Trey Robinson and Sam Vinson earned Preseason First-Team Horizon honors. Robinson is the reigning Horizon Defensive Player of the Year, leading a defense that finished in the 56th percentile of adjusted defensive efficiency last season. The Norse were also in the top 6% of forced turnovers per possession.

As mentioned, Purdue should take better care of the ball going forward. Plus, Northern Kentucky's perimeter defense could be in trouble in this one. The unit was in the bottom 14% in three-point shot rate allowed in the 2023-24 season, and the Boilermakers drained 40.4% of three-pointers a season ago. Purdue shot 42.3% from deep in its first game, and its three-point attempt rate will likely spike without Edey this season. That was the case in their first game as the Boilermakers posted a 47.3% three-point attempt rate (top 17%).

After sitting in the bottom 34% of Bart Torvik's adjusted offensive efficiency a season ago, the Norse still have clear scoring concerns, too. Similar to numberFire's college basketball projections calling a 85.0-60.9 score in favor of Purdue, give me the Boilermakers to cover the -19.5 spread.

No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas Over 83.5 Points (-118)

The top matchup of the night -- by a landslide -- is a battle between blue bloods as North Carolina visits Kansas. The Jayhawks are one of the early favorites to win it all, carrying the sixth-shortest odds to win the national championship (+1300). At +3000, the Tar Heels don't have quite the same title aspirations, but they boast the second-shortest odds to win the ACC (+380).

Kansas is a notable 7.5-point favorite, likely thanks to its home advantage in Allen Fieldhouse. This game will be about two superstars -- RJ Davis of UNC and Hunter Dickinson of Kansas. Davis holds the third-shortest odds to win the Wooden Award (+650) while Dickinson has the fourth-shortest odds (+850).

Davis led his team with a 26.1% usage rate last season while Dickinson finished at 26.3%. Neither mark changed much in the first game of the season as Davis finished with a 29.0% usage rate and Dickinson logged a 30.7% clip.

Ultimately, whichever team can limit the opposing star likely has the best chance to win.

Along with returning starters Davis and Elliot Cadeau, the Tar Heels' Seth Trimble has turned heads throughout the offseason and logged 15 points against Elon on Monday. UNC's backcourt should be excellent, but North Carolina has questions in its frontcourt; Jalen Washington totaled only 8.4 minutes per game last season while Jae'Lyn Withers averaged 12.4 minutes per contest.

The 7-foot-2 Dickinson should have a major size advantage in this one as the 6-foot-10 Washington is the tallest player in UNC's rotation. Double teams will likely be thrown Dickinson's way, per usual, and Kansas' perimeter is loaded with capable three-point shooters in Dajuan Harris Jr., Rylan Griffen, Zeke Mayo, and AJ Storr -- all of whom shoot better than 35.0% from three across their careers.

Elon shot 44.8% from three against the Tar Heels on Monday. Pair this with the trouble of guarding Dickinson, and the Jayhawks' offense should shine tonight. Each team was in the top 25% of tempo a season ago and is currently in the top 30% following the first game of the season. The tempo should only aid Kansas' chances of going over its point total.

No. 22 UCLA Bruins vs. New Mexico Lobos

UCLA -4.5 (-114)

UCLA-New Mexico should be an entertaining late-night contest with a 11 p.m. ET tip off time. For a neutral site game in Nevada, this spread feels a bit too positive about the Lobos.

While I respect the fact New Mexico was picked to finish second in the Mountain West, it's hard to ignore that the squad is replacing three starters. Leading scoring guard Jaelen House (15.9 PPG) moved onto the NBA, Jamal Mashburn Jr. (14.1 PPG) transferred to Temple, and forward JT Toppin (12.4 PPG) is now playing for Texas Tech. This is not the same team that finished 29th in Bart Torvik a season ago.

In fact, Bart Torvik is much lower on the Lobos at this point, ranking them 60th overall. Guard Donovan Dent (14.1 PPG last season) and center Nelly Junior Joseph (8.9 PPG) are the team's returning starters. Dent will likely finish as the team's leading scorer, and Joseph erupted for 28 points and 16 rebounds against Nicholls to open the season. Will this kind of production continue from a player who reached 20 points once last season? Probably not.

Ultimately, I have more questions than answers about New Mexico at this point.

Meanwhile, UCLA seems to have unquestionably upgraded its roster for this season. The Bruins lost their top player from last season in Adem Bona, but they returned four starters while adding four top-100 transfers in Kobe Johnson (8th), Eric Dailey Jr. (56th), Skyy Clark (89th), and Tyler Bilodeau (97th).

Most importantly, the offense should improve after finishing 133rd in adjusted offensive efficiency last season. The Bruins are currently 28th in the category following one game.

This will probably gear toward a low-scoring matchup as both defenses are in the top 35 of adjusted defensive efficiency.

After sitting in the top 40% of three-point attempt rate allowed last season, the Lobos are currently in the bottom 31% of the category. UCLA's three-point attempt rate is currently 44.6%, compared to 30.1% from the 2023-24 season. This should be a path to success for an improved Bruins offense.

This one isn't too complicated for me; UCLA should be back to being relevant this season while New Mexico has a ton of questions. Give me the Bruins to cover the spread.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.